Although there is a lot going in the world… especially when it comes to the topic of health and wellness… we cannot forget that we are still dealing with the prevalence of opioid and prescription (Rx) drug abuse and misuse.
Its is vitally important that proper disposal practices are implemented when it comes to Rx drugs. When medications are thrown in the trash or flushed down the toilet or a drain, the chemicals they are made of can contaminate our water supply or the soil of our environment (which can then also access our water supply). Just imagine being exposed to a cocktail of everyone’s prescribed medications every time you turn on the faucet to get a glass of water, brush your teeth, or wash your hands! The benefit of proper disposal protects us from this even occurring. Alongside this, proper disposal can limit the access of unauthorized users so that misuse cannot occur.
Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the National Rx Drug Take Back Day event has been postponed. This event was one major way that people could clean our their medicine cabinets to ensure proper disposal of expired or unused medications. HOWEVER, you can still do your part by insuring that you are properly disposing of Rx drugs in your home!
At this point, you might ask, “Soooo… then what is the proper way to dispose of my old or unused medications?” Under normal circumstances, you can visit a year-round drop off site in your community and drop off any expired or unused medications where the facility or certified professionals will dispose of the medications for you. General information about these sites can be found at the links below:
Find a Drug Take Back Location
An alternative way that is “social distance friendly” is the use of DisposeRx at-home medication disposal packets. When you mix the powder in these packets with your medication and water, it deactivates the medicine making it safe to dispose in the trash or down a drain! For more information about this product or how to obtain packets for you and your family, follow the link! –>DisposeRx Packets
Plans for our national National Rx Drug Take Back Day event have been postponed, but we can still put forth the effort to take back our community from Rx drug misuse one home at a time!
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